Literary Demerit

Anonymous Agony file #4 part 1. Unfortunately, it’s time to return to Dr. Samson’s perspective. Compared to file #2, this part of the story manages to be both more interesting (well, at least potentially) and more infuriating, so we’ve got a lot to cover — besides, we’re still trying to envision how this all might work as an actual adventure game, which is frustrating enough on its own. This section of the game contains multiple Big Reveals that could be cool if done right, but they aren’t, so we’ve got mixed feelings!

Content warnings: Besides the usual, this time there’s a scene involving weirdly callous behavior towards a terminally ill child, another scene where we get our first confirmed gay character but said character is a homophobic stereotype, and drug abuse

Watch our Let's Play on YouTube at Bloom Plays or follow the link below:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJ_kv2siylOERxK7pk0cokR7YMv5zmAHJ

Part 2 of file #3 of Anonymous Agony! We’ve just been introduced to Haze’s sort-of-girlfriend Yumie (she’s dating him whether he likes it or not) and there’s lots to talk about in regards to her; plus, there’s a new villain, more flashbacks to when Haze was a kid, and a scene where Jake Caro thought it was appropriate to have his characters discuss a real-life mass murder. This “video game” is a disaster, and yet it’s still kind of compelling — there’s plenty in here that we at least want to like.

Content warnings: As usual, although the child abuse is a little more graphic this time (not to imply that Jake has started describing things - I just mean there’s more abuse happening explicitly onscreen). Also the scene where the characters discuss a real-life mass murder, as mentioned above. The game is also continuing to go out of its way to have Haze prove that he isn’t racist while simultaneously fetishizing a different character (no points for guessing who) for her race, so that’s weird too.

Watch our Let's Play on YouTube at Bloom Plays or follow the link below:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJ_kv2siylOERxK7pk0cokR7YMv5zmAHJ

We’re continuing the Anonymous Agony script reading, and it’s finally time to get back to Haze’s side of the story. This is the first half of file #3, and we’re enjoying it a lot more than file #2 since we get to take a break from Samson and check up on what our boy Haze is up to (another character we like gets introduced in this part of the story, too!), but it’d be wrong to imply that the quality of the script has meaningfully improved because this is still a mess.

Content warnings: As usual for Anonymous Agony, CSA is central to the plot, though thankfully nothing is explicit (at least so far). This episode also has a scene depicting severe animal abuse and death.

Watch our Let's Play on YouTube at Bloom Plays or follow the link below:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJ_kv2siylOERxK7pk0cokR7YMv5zmAHJ

The second half of file #2! Picking up from where we left off last time, we’re still stuck following the story of Dr. Samson as he continues treating his patients, acting inappropriate towards his nurse Annie, and generally failing to endear himself to us as a character. On the bright side, the action picks up as we’ve got a kidnapping, a defenestration (not performed by Haze this time!), the return of multiple characters we haven’t seen since file #1, and even an implication that there might be gameplay in this video game!

Content warnings: Usual Anonymous Agony warnings apply, and the same warnings from last episode about non-sexual child abuse (there’s a child abduction scene this time, for instance) and 1950s-ass gender dynamics apply here too.

Watch our Let's Play on YouTube at Bloom Plays or follow the link below:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJ_kv2siylOERxK7pk0cokR7YMv5zmAHJ

Now that we’ve finished the playable, released portions of Anonymous Agony, it’s time to dig into the script! This episode covers roughly half of File #2, which follows Dr. Samson, the psychologist assigned to treat Haze’s little sister Clara. Things do not get any more normal from here on out and we’ve got lots to discuss regarding topics like whether this all takes place at Evil Hospital (&/or the Elfen Lied universe), how to maturely navigate workplace disagreements, why nothing about the previously established timeline of the game matters anymore, and how Samson is the worst and we hate him.

Content warnings: Samson’s sections of the game are (at least thus far) less explicitly about pedophilia than Haze’s sections, but of course CSA’s still central to the overall plot and there’s also plenty of non-sexual child abuse happening in this part of the story. There are also some real 1950s-ass gender dynamics in this section, as well as a couple of (really baffling) scenes involving in-universe antisemitism.

Watch our Let's Play on YouTube at Bloom Plays or follow the link below:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJ_kv2siylOERxK7pk0cokR7YMv5zmAHJ

Picking up our Anonymous Agony discussion where we left off, this time we’re covering days 2 and 3 (videos 6-11 in our YouTube playthrough). The latter half of the game has some surprisingly decent scenes and ends on a high note, but there’s also some parts that are absolute dogshit, and many other parts that we just weren’t sure what to make of at all. This concludes our coverage of the playable part of Anonymous Agony - next up is the script!

Content warnings: Aside from the usual violence, murder, and implied CSA, one of the scenes we have to discuss this time involves a character getting subjected to weirdly explicit racial abuse; it’s intended to make some sort of point about how racism is bad (I guess?) but it probably goes without saying that it’s very tasteless.

Watch our Let's Play on YouTube at Bloom Plays or follow the link below:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJ_kv2siylOERxK7pk0cokR7YMv5zmAHJ

After having played through Anonymous Agony — the parts of it that are a playable game, anyway — we’ve got a lot to discuss. This episode we’re covering the prologue up to just before the start of day 2 of the game (that’s equivalent to the first 5 videos of our YouTube playthrough), recapping the events and getting into what works, what doesn’t, and what would happen if Sweeney Todd was written by Bloober Team.

Content warnings: This is a game in which child abuse, specifically CSA, is central to the plot; it’s also a very edgy game with a lot of subpar writing, so this subject matter isn’t being portrayed sensitively. There are no explicit scenes of children being abused in the game but plenty that’s talked about, implied, or happens offscreen. There’s also murder (naturally). We may have more specific warnings later as we continue this season but it should be assumed going forward that the CSA + murder warning applies to all Anonymous Agony episodes.

Watch our Let's Play on YouTube at Bloom Plays or follow the link below:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJ_kv2siylOERxK7pk0cokR7YMv5zmAHJ

This is the audio-only version of our Let's Play of Anonymous Agony by Coded Emotion. For the version with video, check it out on ⁠⁠Bloom Plays⁠⁠ or follow the link below!

⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNZiathjFHg

Content warnings: This game contains depictions of CSA, as well as other forms of sexual assault and child abuse. While nothing particularly explicit happens onscreen, these topics are central to the story. These topics also tend to be poorly handled within the game itself. Viewer discretion is advised if you are sensitive to this subject matter.

This is the audio-only version of our Let's Play of Anonymous Agony by Coded Emotion. For the version with video, check it out on ⁠⁠⁠Bloom Plays⁠⁠⁠ or follow the link below!

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSmYkhXWyJw

Content warnings: This game contains depictions of CSA, as well as other forms of sexual assault and child abuse. While nothing particularly explicit happens onscreen, these topics are central to the story. These topics also tend to be poorly handled within the game itself. Viewer discretion is advised if you are sensitive to this subject matter.

This is the audio-only version of our Let's Play of Anonymous Agony by Coded Emotion. For the version with video, check it out on ⁠⁠⁠Bloom Plays⁠⁠⁠ or follow the link below!

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJgHQnGZ7VU

Content warnings: This game contains depictions of CSA, as well as other forms of sexual assault and child abuse. While nothing particularly explicit happens onscreen, these topics are central to the story. These topics also tend to be poorly handled within the game itself. Viewer discretion is advised if you are sensitive to this subject matter.